Few industries enjoy taking really, really long extended holiday vacations quite like Hollywood, and when we get to this time of the year, there’s rarely much in the realm of “movie development news” to discuss. Last week,, and this week, we’re looking at the ones we deemed most Rotten instead.we covered the year’s biggest Fresh news stories

JANUARY:?KEVIN HART PASSES GO, WILL COLLECT (AT LEAST) $200, INMONOPOLY

?has been getting better in the last few years, starting with his partnership with Dwayne Johnson inCentral Intelligence(which carried into theirJumanjimovies), and including his voice role inCaptain Underpants: The First Epic Movie(Certified Fresh at 88%). Before 2016, however, his?track record mostly carried a broad series of Rotten splotches, with only a few Fresh tomatoes, and most of those?were for his comedy concert films. Hart had several new movies announced in 2019 (includingBlack Friday,Extreme Job, and remakes ofScroogedandUptown Saturday Night), butwith the long-in-development board game adaptation ofMonopoly. The idea of a movie based on the classicMonopolyboard game has been kicking around for over a decade, including a time when Ridley Scott was attached, but theMonopolymovie we’ll actually get sounds a drastic switch. Kevin Hartfor Lionsgate and Hasbro, with hisRide Alongdirector?also on board.Kevin Hart’s Tomatometerit all started in Januarywill star in MonopolyTim Story

FEBRUARY: BRAD PITT’S ZOMBIE FIGHT ENDS WITH SCRAPPING OFWORLD WAR ZSEQUEL??

If you were a big fan of Brad Pitt and director David Fincher’s zombie movie, February. After years of near-starts and delays (sometimes while Fincher worked on other projects), Paramount Pictures finally, apparently definitively,?on aWorld War Zsequel. Pre-production was reportedly already well underway for a six month shoot in Atlanta and other nations around the world, but that also meant the budget exploded to over $190 million, and.Technically, it sounds likeWorld War Zmight come back, even with a sequel, in the future, but if it does, it would be with a much lower budget, without David Fincher directing,.World War Zbrought some bad newspulled the plugthat was the breaking point for Paramountand possibly without Brad Pitt as well

MARCH: DISNEY/FOX MERGER LEADS TO SHELVING OF PROMISINGX-MENPROJECTS

In March, Disneyto acquire the entertainment assets of the Fox film and TV studios. The deal was widely applauded by Marvel Comics fans who are eager to see theX-MenandFantastic Fourcharacters and properties now available for Marvel Studios in their future movies (though probably not until after 2022). However,that?some/many of the projects that Fox had been developing, includingX-Force,X-23,Kitty Pryde, andMadrox the Multiple Man. We’ll never know what those movies might have been like, and it’s definitely possible some would have been Rotten (given Fox’s record on recentX-Menmovies). They’re good examples, however, of the wide scope of Marvel movies we would have gotten if Marvel and Sony also had Fox developing movies every year. How long will it take now for Marvel Studios to go deep enough into their catalog to greenlight movies likeKitty PrydeandMadrox the Multiple Man?finalized its $71.3 billion dealthat also meantwould be shelved

APRIL: THEBAD MOMS’ MOMSTO GET THEIR OWN MOVIE

AfterBad Momsin the summer of 2016,?it was followed by the sequelin 2017. That second film introduced grandmother characters played by Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines, and Susan Sarandon, and in April,?that??calledBad Moms’ Moms. It’s not yet known if Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, and Mila Kunis will reprise their roles as well, or if the third movie might introduce the next set of older great-grandmas (who could then get their own movie calledBad Moms’ Moms’ Moms). Both?and?earned Rotten Tomatometer scores at 58% and 30%, respectively.earned $183 million globallyA Bad Moms Christmaswe learnedthey’re going to get their own movieBad MomsA Bad Moms Christmas

MAY:SONIC THE HEDGEHOGTRAILER BACKLASH SPARKS REDESIGN

Some of the year’s most Rotten stories represent missteps that were eventually corrected, but we are looking at these stories asthey were at the time. In, Paramount appeared to get the message within the same week, but still, at the time, the reaction was very negative. After all, Paramount Pictures should’ve seen this one coming. In April,debuted, and the collective fan backlash against Sonic’s designthis time. (The eyes are too small, the nose is at the wrong angle, and the teeth. Where to even begin on the teeth?) TheSonic the Hedgehogmissteps were only accentuated by the timing of the trailer in the same week as the firstreviews, as that film has not one but?dozensof video game characters that look pretty much exactly like they do in the games. The good news, however, is thatSonic the Hedgehogdirector Jeff Fowler, “The message is loud and clear… you aren’t happy with the design & you want changes.” Those changes came later in the year as we got a newtrailer?in which he did indeed look a lot more like he does in the games.Sonic the Hedgehogis now scheduled as a Valentine’s release on 2/14/2020.this casethe first Sonic the Hedgehogtrailerwas even louderPokemon Detective Pikachuquickly responded on TwitterSonic the Hedgehog

JUNE:?SECURITY CAMERAS TO BE HAUNTED AGAIN INPARANORMAL ACTIVITY 7

It’s now been over four years since 2015’sParanormal Activity: The Ghost Dimensionearned the franchise’s, domestically earning one fifth less than the first film. TheParanormal Activitymovies were also relatively affordable to produce, so it was probably inevitable that Paramount Pictures would want to start making them again. Producer Jason Blum (of Blumhouse Productions)for Paramount, although the premise isn’t yet known (though it seems obvious that it will probably be another “found footage” horror film).?for the last three films (24%, 39%, and 15%, respectively) don’t offer much hope for the next installment, unfortunately. Since this news, Paramount has scheduledParanormal Activity 7?for release on March 19, 2021, up against the secondTomb Raidermovie starring Alicia Vikander, and the week beforeThe Boss Baby 2.lowest box office to dateis now developing Paranormal Activity 7The Tomatometer scoresbroke in June

JULY: LOOK WHO’S REMAKINGLOOK WHO’S TALKINGAUGUST:?THAT TIME MARVEL AND SONY (ALMOST) STOPPED MAKINGSPIDER-MANMOVIES

As with?theSonic the Hedgehoghullabaloo, this is another example of something that washorriblenews at the time but has since been course-corrected. We?are referring to that period in late summer when Sony and Marvelover futureSpider-Manmovies starring Tom Holland. Just over a month later,and were able to announce a thirdSpider-Manmovie set in the MCU for release on July 16, 2021. As for what their initial boondoggle was about, Disney and Marvel reportedly wanted 50% of “the cut” of Sony’sSpider-Manmovies in return for Kevin Feige’s participation and all of the cross-promotion that a Sony/Disney/Marvel partnership brings with it. Sony then responded with?that used words like “mischaracterized” and “disappointed,” which may have been a response towho were quick to side with Disney, Kevin Feige, and Marvel Studios.almost parted waysthe two studios “made nice”a series of Tweetscriticism from some fans

SEPTEMBER:FACE/OFF,HOUSE PARTY, ANDNEW JACK CITYAMONG SLEW OF REMAKES ANNOUNCED

Superhero movies are what people seem to talk about the most, but movie-for-movie, they are easily outnumbered by therealtrend in studio releases, which is the continuing stream of remakes, reboots, and reimaginings. We hear about remakes all year round, but September of 2019 featured an especially high number of such stories, all within three weeks. Itthat a remake of the 1997 action thrillerFace/Offis now in development. Although it feels like the 1997 action thriller?only gets mentioned now when someone wants to make a joke, the film starring Nicolas Cage and John Travolta actually maintains an impressive.about remakes?ofThe Craft,House Party, andSet It Off, as well asabout a remake?ofThe Princess Bride. The month ended with, this time concerning 1991’sNew Jack City.started with the newsCertified Fresh Tomatometer score of 92%The following week brought newsout-of-context storiesanother remake announcement

OCTOBER:?DISNEY MAY REBOOT LIVE-ACTIONINSPECTOR GADGETMOVIES

In the 1980s, formerGet Smartstar Don Adams had something of a late career resurgence as the voice of the animated super detective. Although that show only ran for two seasons and 86 episodes, its cultural imprint was strong enough that Walt Disney Pictures produced(Rotten at 21%), which was followed in 2003 by(Rotten at 40%). Despite the critical drubbings of those two previous live-action movies, Walt Disney Pictures appears ready to rebootInspector Gadget, as the studiothe producers?of this year’sAladdinremake and currentSaturday Night Livewriters Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell to do exactly that.Inspector Gadgeta live-action movie in 1999a direct-to-video sequelis now working with

NOVEMBER:?JAMES DEAN TO RETURN FOR HIS FOURTH FILM 60+ YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH

Most stories we might consider Rotten are based on Tomatometer scores and such, but few of them inspire the sort of reaction that erupted when it was revealed in November that one of Hollywood’s most beloved prematurely departed movie stars. James Dean died with just a few films to his credit (three in lead roles, not counting earlier uncredited roles) as the star ofEast of Eden,Rebel Without a Cause, andGiant, all three of which?(he died on September 30, 1955). That said, James Dean will “star” in his fourth movie in an independent Vietnam War-era drama calledFinding Jack, about the plight of military dogs following the end of the war. The filmmakers plan on using old film footage and photographs of Dean to create a photorealistic depiction of the actor following theto his name and likeness from his surviving family members. The news attracted immediate reactions from stars like Chris Evans (who probably doesn’t want someone casting him in a movie 100 years from now), butthe backlash came as a surprise to him.will be “revived” using CGIcame out in 1955 or 1956acquisition of the rightsthe film’s director said

DECEMBER:ALADDINSTAR CAN’T GET WORK, BUTPRINCE ANDERSGETS A SPINOFF

In December, many movie fans were probably surprised when?Aladdinstar?stated that?following the film’s box office success of over a billion dollars worldwide. Nearly an “unknown” beforeAladdin, Massoud had won that role as part ofthat Disney staged for both Aladdin and Jasmine in 2017. Considering how much attention Mena Massoud’s revelation made?at the time, you might think Disney would’ve held back on, because the two stories together paint a particularly pretty. Nevertheless, Disney+for anAladdinspinoff movie?starring Billy Magnussen as his minor character of Prince Anders,?a minor character who didn’t exist in the original animated film and was newly created for the live-action adaptation. It’s not yet known if any other?Aladdin?co-stars will also be cast.Mena Massoudhe hadn’t yet had a single auditiona massive casting calla subsequent announcementhas announced plans

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